Death is an inevitability we all succumb to. No matter what we accomplish, all will inevitably fall to the hammer of time and perish. What happens to us after we die?
This question is something all famous thought-leaders inevitably broach. And they do so with the greatest skills of rationalization around. Some religious leaders paint an optimistic picture of what happens; scientists a neutral to negative picture; and philosophers an abstract one that claims it begs the question.
Deepak Chopra:
Dalai Lama:
Stephen Hawking:
Dr. Gerald Schroeder:
Eckhart Tolle:
Who’s right? Who’s wrong? Can they all be right? Can they all be wrong? Whatever answers you believe is due to some form of rationalization. It may be rooted in hard evidence or your feelings or even your upbringing. But at the core, there’s rationalization based on what you believe.
It is an uncertain answer, just like the question of the existence of God–it requires some leap of faith because we as humans can’t ascertain the answer based on our grasp of reality. And faith provides the foundation and framework for religions.
And which religion is right? Which is wrong? Can they all be right? Can they all be wrong? Why then do they all exist?
Dawkins
Take a step back from the question itself to observe the pattern here. Despite each one potentially contradicting or refuting the other, what is certain is that each one of these experts has applied his or her own mental framework and view on life into the conclusion.
Deepak takes a holistic, relativist approach. The Dalai Lama roots his answer in the Buddhist faith and oneness of humanity belief. Dawkins from a genetic survival stance (an inherently competitive view of humanity). Hawking and Tolle from the belief that it is a moot point of a flawed question.
The reality is that these people have crafted their lives behind certain rationalization patterns and seek out anything that confirms these patterns. Patterns exist in the way we eat, live, and learn, from our financial systems
to the way we understand the vicissitudes of life
to nature
to the human body
Some argue that this ability to know for certain what comes after death or how to live life a certain way is just incompatible with our constraints of reality. We can only rationalize and connect based on our limited dimensional processors. Perhaps the answer to these inexplicable questions lie in another dimension which we cannot understand, for it goes beyond our abilities to do so.
But what better way to answer a question than to explain it as unanswerable.
This limitation to a finite life is what some use to blame on the formation of religions.
However, this same limitation drives others to use emotional leaps to connect and make a faith-based connections to reality.
In man’s attempt to bring each person’s awareness to a level of understanding of such a complex situation, corruption and problems often occur. When a belief shaped through generations of thought is being defined to you by one person during one lecture or sermon, this creates an imbalance of authority that at times has been used for evil, resulting in many problems that lead some to have a negative view towards organized religion.
It matters not what scientific connections one has made, nor theoretical discourse engaged. Our notions of what is and what isn’t is merely a cumulative byproduct of our senses reacting to stimuli being processed by our DNA through the brain. Be it spiritual, philosophical, experiential, or scientific, who you are and what you think is based on these inputs. And these inputs are different from one person to the next.
If an authority figure (ex. a coach) says you lack talent, it may be based on his/her own rationalization that talent is defined by a person who can run 100 meters in a certain period of time or has to be at least 5′ 11″. If it’s in a business setting, you may be told you’re not qualified enough to get the job because “qualified” is defined by a certain score on a test or attending a certain ranked school. Most likely, they all have strong reasons to rationalize why they believe these things based on their own experiences. But just because they believe it and rationalize it, doesn’t automatically make it true. Someone else could just as easily observe your athleticism or resume and conclude you are the right person based on his or her own past experience.
The point is, our reality is subjective. What I have experienced, you haven’t. What you have, I haven’t. We use communication to convey that which we believe and rationalization (through logical or emotional appeals) is one of the primary forms to communicating.
This relates not only to what others say and do to us, but also to what we say and do to ourselves.
What you experienced and told yourself yesterday has an impact on what you experience and tell yourself today. You can’t fully experience what it is like to learn how to drive a car for the first time after you’ve learned. You can’t re-create that “aha” moment again when you realized that 2 x 5 = 10. Your brain has already made that connection. You can’t unsee what you’ve seen, unfeel what you’ve felt or unsay what you’ve said.
The same is true for when you told yourself you were stupid or bad at something. For what has happened is that that experience is now ingrained in you. It may not be permanently there, but it’s there. You’ve already done it and you can’t “undo” it. There is no “control + z.” And once it’s done, our minds work tirelessly to explain, rationalize, and justify it. Often times, what you say to yourself comes true because of this very reason.
So how can you overcome this? If yesterday you said you are not worthy then today in order for you to be worthy, you must not only say so and think so, but you also have to overcome yesterday’s self-programming when told yourself you weren’t.
If today you say you will stop eating the junk food you’ve been eating for five years, you don’t just have to stop eating junk food, you have to overcome your previous years of rationalizing why you decided to eat junk food in the first place.
Whether you believe you can or believe you can’t, you are right. Whether you seek mediocrity or greatness is up to you. Should greatness be on your mind, there are certain things that can skew it in your favor. That is what this series of posts has been targeted towards. Purpose. Belief. Continual small improvements. Next week we begin to wrap this up with the final pieces towards tipping the scale in your favor for success. Just remember:
